February 8, 2019 — State Senate Democrats approved what was described as historic legislation on Tuesday to ban offshore oil and natural gas drilling along the New York coast, a rebuke of the Trump administration’s plan to open ocean waters to energy companies.
The Democratically controlled Senate easily approved the measure, a day after the legislation passed the Assembly. Officials said that Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who supports the ban, is expected to sign the bill.
The expected passage of the legislation — sponsored by State Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Beach and chairman of the Senate’s Environmental Conservation Committee — was announced last Sunday at a news conference on the boardwalk, where Kaminsky joined Senate leaders and Assembly Democrats, as well as local officials and environmentalists.
Lawmakers said the legislation would update decades-old laws regulating oil and natural gas drilling and prevent conveyances, leases and acquisitions of land for offshore oil and gas.
“The Senate majority will not stand by as the Trump administration plans to drill off Long Island shores,” Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins said. “Long Island’s natural resources and communities’ quality of life are under threat. The Senate Democratic majority will stand up for Long Island families and fight against any efforts to drill anywhere near New York’s coastlines.”